(initial notes provided by Mark Kilby, transcriptions and further notes below by Diana Larsen)
Developed by Evan Gardner (More on Willem’s blog; early stages; URLs below)
Fluency
Not everyone needs seem level of fluency
Levels of Fluency:
Barney
Sesame Street
Larry King
Charlie Rose
Traveler
Fluency is a learning model - a learning question?
Example: SM with 5-6 people on team (been together for a while) - somewhat complex but well defined - do I need same level of fluency as someone else who is doing a retro for a mission critical 4yr project - it is different levels of fluency
How fluent do I need to be to do my job? Or a job?
More fluency in a particular scenario/job may not help - it may get you into more trouble
Fluent Fool - a method of teaching that extracts the language from them - they don’t know how to teach, but they will correct you - so the learner needs to ask the right questions - learner stays in control (why immersion works) - it works at all 4 levels
e.g., PO owns the backlog - it doesn’t help to build acceptance criteria - they need to ask the right questions - PO is the fluent fool - team seeking to become fluent in the backlog and stories
What is fluency in leading retrospectives?
Ability to state a goal and formulate an agenda
(See end for additional notes from after the session.)
Fluency != Maturity
Fluency != Developmental Model
Fluency = Learning for Use
(Looking for new labels for the levels of fluency/proficiency. In the interim, using the language/US TV labels.) RL - retrospective leader
We split into Four Groups to explore the characteristics of four levels of fluency for retrospective facilitators. What proficiency does it take to lead an effective retrospective? It depends.
(Note: Willem suspects the description below may describe a late Sesame Street/Larry King Level, since it already requires an awareness of past and future, as well as facilitation skills. He suggests that simply facilitating a discussion using present-focused, ORID questions may reflect Barney level more accurately. )
Characteristics:
Must be able to hit all the points of an effective retrospective, in a minimal, “simplest thing that can possibly work” way. Fully competent at a basic level. Participants have fun.
The ‘“Barney” group decided that a RL would have found (or created) one generic retrospective agenda/design that they re-use multiple times.
Repeats this design every time.
Fluent Fool likely to be available:
Characteristics:
Fluent Fool:
Safe & Simple
Conscious learning mode
We brainstormed what the levels looked like, creating a grid.
Barney
Sesame Street
Larry King
Charlie Rose
Characteristics:
Knowing the boundaries of safety
Fluent Fool;
__
URLs
http://www.mythic-cartography.org/what-does-fluency-mean/
http://www.mythic-cartography.org/2009/03/21/an-agile-roadmap-the-first-iteration/
Fluency is effortless skill, actionable knowledge, conscious competence.
Fluency = no hesitation
Fluency means you can do whatever you say you can do, without hesitation, on the spot, effortlessly. You have comfort in your skin about it.
Fluency means flow, grace, ease.
Fluent Fool = Always the most experienced person you can find in your “target dialect.” (Every fluent fool comes with an “accent”; represents a “dialect”.) Someone who can do the thing you want to do. Immediate corrective feedback loop.
Barney - passing single words back and forth about your immediate environment, what is physically present around you in the moment, words about self
Sesame Street - passing sentences back and forth, question and answer, about your immediate environment, includes words and sentences about self and other.
Larry King - passing paragraphs back and forth, speaking about past, present and future, words and sentences about family, self, other and context.
Charlie Rose - passing multiple paragraphs/exposition about society - economic, social and political issues, about philosophy, morality, using words like “should”, “must”…
Distinguished Speaker (Obama?) - realize/recognize/move between multiple dialects; can speak with scientists, tradesmen, politicians, business people, children, etc., with equal ease. Leading retrospectives requires a level of proficiency with meeting facilitation that allows for reflecting on past and its impact on the present and future.
To lead a retrospective, one must first have proficiency at leading group discussions and meetings concerning issues of physically present issues - e.g., how could we arrange our workspace differently? how do we feel about the new company directive? Facilitator is the Fluent Fool for the team (team members), helping them to gain similar level of ease with leading meetings.
Here’s a mind-exploding part! Part of knowing your skill level is the constant (self-generated) pressure to pull others up to a similar level as yourself. A fluent self-sufficient learner (fluent self-teacher) will also teach others. They can’t help it. It’s all teaching. There is no learning. (Learning is a model that reinforces the hierarchical system of expert → student.)
“Everybody is an expert in their own life experience and what they care about. So everybody has something to teach.” Willem Larsen